Today the Miscellany brings you another day in the life on the London Program! This time, we’re following in the footsteps of Emily Clark (’17) as she balances classes, theatergoing, and exploring the city!
Thursday, May 5th, 2016
8:30 am: Wake up! Slowly head downstairs for breakfast. Have a lovely chat with Patrick, the man who runs the Pickwick, who heard some not quite nice things about the production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream that we saw last night. I assure him that the show was just fine, and in fact quite energetic and colorful.
10 am: At the theatre class with Jane Edwardes. Today we had a guest lecturer who is a former costume designer, but now designs sets for theatrical productions. Lots of very cool stages, and A LOT of adorable miniature models. Then we chatted about previous plays we’ve seen: general opinion was very much against The Suicide due to flat characters, cheap jokes, and an inconsistent style.
12 pm: Hop back to cook lunch at the Pickwick. You can make anything taste good if you cook it in olive oil and add enough garlic.
1:30 pm: Go for a quick run in Regent’s Park! The weather has just warmed up after the midterm break, so it’s absolutely gorgeous. I also took mental notes of the park’s general atmosphere to collect evidence for my independent project.
3 pm: Head to Freestate Coffee, a perfectly hipster little joint on Southampton Row with excellent coffee and enough space to hide away and work on my essay that’s due tomorrow (Friday).
4 pm: Work work work work work work.
5 pm: (Observe the many pairs of people that walk in and out as I sip a coffee so strong it would wake up the dead. …Why are they here? Does their need for caffeine outweigh their personal sense of spite for a venue that markets itself as alternative, but is really just another cog in the establishment? Or are they just lonely and crave the validation that sitting at a coffee shop, passionately typing away, lends?) I realize that I’m channeling my parody of Mrs. Dalloway that I wrote for Brian’s Urban Studies class onto the people in this coffee shop and have been doodling for 10 minutes. I leave and head back to the Pickwick.
6 pm: Eat dinner and then take the tube to the Almeida Theatre.
7:30 pm: See Boy, a fascinating contemporary play in Islington. I haven’t quite figured it all out yet, but there was definitely a powerful critique of Britain’s welfare and perhaps education systems. The best part was by far the set; the stage consisted of a perpetually moving conveyor belt, which made it easier for the audience to follow quick changes in location. The actors were also all wearing some sort of device that allowed them to appear like they’re sitting on air.
9:30 pm: Back at the Pickwick, but the Internet is down! Cruel fates! So I finish my essay.
11 pm: Head downstairs to the Pickwick’s lounge and see a bunch of students from the French OCS program who are here for their midterm break! Chat for a bit, and then head to sleep. Hope that I wake up with ideas about how to edit my essay!